Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, have expressed concerns about how the departments of Defense and State track and monitor weapons systems that originated in the U.S.
The senators noted in a May 14 letter to DOD and the State Department about signs of misuse of U.S.-origin weapons in Yemen and their association with civilian casualties, Warren’s office said Monday.
In the letter, the lawmakers welcomed the creation of the Pentagon’s Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan and the administration’s release of the updated Conventional Arms Transfer policy in February.
The senators have asked federal agencies to respond by June 5 to several questions about their end-use monitoring programs.
DOD, for instance, should state the number of potential end-use violations the Defense Security Cooperation Agency has transmitted to the State Department since 2012 and the number of compliance assessment visits that have been conducted by the Golden Sentry program for U.S.-origin defense articles and services sold to the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia since 2012, the senators said.
The State Department, meanwhile, should indicate the number of reports of civilian harm linked to U.S.-origin weapons that it has received since 2012 and the criteria it uses if foreign military sales should be paused, canceled or reduced after receiving reports of unauthorized use.
The lawmakers are also asking the two agencies to provide a briefing on EUM capabilities no later than June 26.
